Monthly Archives: December 2000

Well after two months visiting with Lyndy’s home church in Vaughn WA we are resuming our “Tour 2000”. We plan to stop in Corvallis, OR then head to Billings, MT. From there we plan to be in the Chicago, IL area for a few days.

Lyndy is doing well and continues to have very few difficulties. We will see how she does traveling.

For those of you who do not know yet, we are expecting! Lyndy is due Dec. 2nd.

06/14/00

We have made it to Chicago without any difficulties. We had a chance to meet with the Chairman of the Board for VFCM while in Corvallis, OR. It was good to see Ron and talk about our return to Alaska. Please continue to pray that we will be able to return soon, we get very homesick when we talk about God’s call on our life. We also enjoyed our visit in Billings, MT. We had a chance to renew a friendship and meet people interested in Alaska.

One advantage of all this traveling is that we have an opportunity to see the beauty of this wonderful country. From OR we retraced Lewis & Clark’s trail up the Columbia River and over the mountains into the open country of the Missouri River. We also stopped by the Whitman Mission in the SW corner of Washington. This was one of the earliest out reaches to the Indians and then the settlers on their way on the Oregon Trail. It was interesting to see how things have changed over the past 150 or so years. But perhaps what was more interesting to see was how similar things are still. Alaska is a lot like the “old west”. No gun fights, but wilderness all around and strong independent people living in the middle of nowhere. People still need to hear the Gospel and more importantly they need to see it lived.

Lyndy is doing well and so far traveling is not a problem. Our next stop on the “Tour” is Michigan then Indiana then it’s on to Ohio!

06/22/00

We are now in Indianapolis, IN. Lyndy is still holding up well and we are enjoying our time with good friends. While in Chicago we were able to see a family we knew from Alaska, the Mansfield’s. We were also able to visit with the Clow’s, a College buddy and his wife and 7 month old twins. From there we were in the Holland-Grand Haven area of MI, where we spent the weekend with Mike and Angie Tubergen. They are a couple we went through the Master’s Mission with last year. What a great weekend! While there we had a chance to go to the Scriptorium, a collection of very old and rare copies of the Bible. Some of the artifacts dated back to 4000 BC. It was overwhelming to see the history of God’s written word, and reassuring to see that we can trust our copies today and that there has been very little change over the centuries.

06/28/00

We are in Canton, OH this week visiting with Lyndy’s grandparents. It has been nice to be in the same bed for more than two nights! Adam has taken advantage of being here to complete a correspondence course to renew his Flight Instructor rating. While Lyndy is catching up on needed sleep. While on our way here we stopped to see the Luse family in SW Ohio, another family we went through TMM with. We have a meeting scheduled Friday the 30th to talk with the Pastor of Canton Baptist Temple concerning our ministry in Alaska. Please pray that this meeting will go well and that they might be interested in supporting us in some way. Our next stop is eastern PA., then down the coast.

07/05/00

We can see the end of the trip from here! In some ways it makes us sad, but in other ways we are excited about the next step. We are in the Philadelphia area right now and plan to be in North Carolina by the end of this week. We will spend a week at The Master’s Mission then it’s on to GA. Some have asked how many miles have we driven, well since Jan. we have put over 18,000 miles on the car and will have over 20,000 miles under our belt by the time we hit GA! The latest figures from TMM show that we have right at $17K cash towards the airplane! Combined with the $50K discount from Maule we only need $133K to purchase the airplane. Please continue to pray that the Lord will supply for our needs. We would still like to head to Alaska this Sept.

07/15/00

Well we have made a big loop around the “Lower 48”. We arrived in Covington Saturday evening after visiting with friends we went through The Master’s Mission with. Last week we were at TMM, catching up on paperwork and visiting friends and meeting new friends. Adam had a chance to get out and work a little. Sitting in a car for 6 months about drove him crazy! Lyndy had another chance to catch up on some rest and correspondence. Traveling has gone well but we were a little road weary. What are our plans now? Well, we have started to come up with several lists of things that need to be done before we head north and it’s almost staggering. Please pray that we will have the wisdom to order our days and have the time to complete things in time. We have considered delaying our departure until next spring even if we have all the funds available for the plane. We also need several thousand dollars for outfitting and transportation cost. The delayed departure will allow us more time to complete the seemingly endless list. We have also found that it is difficult to find doctors that are willing to take a new OB patient if they have not seen them from the beginning. If we stay we plan to remain in the Covington area until our return to Alaska. We will still be updating the web page so stay tuned! And please pray for wisdom!

07/25/00

Oh my, the things that can happen in a week! We have made the decision to stay in Georgia for the winter. There is just too much that needs to be done to make it up before the snow flies. Monday we were in Moultrie, GA talking with the folks at the Maule factory. While we were there we put a down payment on the airplane! As you may remember we have said that we would not go into debt to get the airplane, and we have not. THE LORD SUPPLIES! It will take between 12 to 14 months for Maule to complete the plane. This will give us the time we need to get back to Alaska in the spring and start working on a hanger to house the plane. Lyndy is doing well and the doctor’s visit went very good last week. We have an ultrasound scheduled in early August.

08/03/00

The Lord is good; we have had a wonderful week. We went back to TMM for the summer graduation of candidates. What a wonderful time of fellowship and renewal, and of course good food. We roasted a goat African style Friday night. It was great to see some of our classmates again as well as meeting the Hinds. (A TMM family in Africa home for a short time.) Yesterday we went to the doctor and had an ultrasound. Everything is going well and the baby is healthy and very modest. We tried to find out if we are having a girl or boy and it looks like we might have a modest girl. She kept covering things up with her hands. What a wonderful creation we are and what an encouraging thought to know that God knows us even when we are formed in our mother’s womb. Next week we will head back to Moultrie, Ga. To finish putting the order in for the plane, we have to pick colors and things like that. We are also planning a two-week trip back to Alaska in September. This will allow us to start making preparations for our permanent return in spring 2001. More on that later. Thanks for wanting to keep up with us and look for a prayer letter in the coming weeks!

08/14/00

We have completed the process with the Maule factory. The interior and radios and all the other options are selected. No small feat considering that we wanted to make sure we got everything right from the beginning. We have every confidence that the airplane will long out live our ability to use it. It is also difficult to make sure that we make wise decisions. An example: Vinyl does not hold up to extreme cold if it has to move, leather also has a difficult time. Our only option was to come up with an all velour seat. Maule had never done that before, everyone going to cold climates has just dealt with the standard interiors. But because we asked, Maule will make a new version of seat (all velour no vinyl) for no additional charge. We expect to take delivery of the airplane mid-September 2001.

We are getting involved in Adam’s home church, we were asked to start a College / Career Sunday school class. Adam preached the early service last week and we have had many other opportunities to share. We hope to have our prayer letter in the mail by Saturday the 19th. So be on the lookout!

08/24/00

We are as busy as ever! We are working on getting things ready for our short trip to Alaska in two weeks. There is a lot of paper work to get done and meetings to prepare for. Adam is busy fixing folk’s vehicles; it seems that when it rains it pours! Our Sunday school class is going well, we have been talking about how to interpret scripture and that we can trust the Bible. Pray that we will have the words to say and that God will work in the lives of those in the class. Not all of the prayer letters have found there way to the mail yet, be patient.

09/04/00

Tomorrow we fly from Atlanta to Anchorage and spend two weeks getting things set up for our permanent return next spring. We have a lot of people to meet with and a lot of details to work out. Please pray that everything will go smoothly and that we will accomplish all we need to. It will be wonderful to get back to Alaska even if it is for a short time. Adam has to meet with folks at the city to get the lease of airport property started, we will also meet with contractors in Fairbanks and material suppliers in Nenana. We hope to start construction on the hangar as soon as the ground thaws out. Lyndy has been helping get ready for all the meetings. Of course it will not be all work and no play, September is moose season and Adam and some of his buddies are planning to hunt for a couple of days. We will try to update the web page but we may not have access to the Internet. As we say in radio. STAY TUNED!

09/25/00

We have made it back from Alaska! What a wonderful trip! I will update everyone with all the details very soon. Lyndy did very well traveling and the baby is doing great too!

10/03/00

Well we are still alive, sorry it has been awhile since we have updated everyone. We had a wonderful trip to Alaska and a very productive time. We have started negotiations with the city of Nenana to lease a lot at the airport for a hangar to store the airplane in. The hangar will also serve as a “Mission Base”, we will have an office and an apartment in the building. This will allow us to live at the airport for a few years and save us from paying rent someplace else in town.

The Lord was watching out for us. The lot we were originally looking at turned out to be a bad choice (too much standing water). After talking to several folks in town we decided on a different lot (a section of the airport where an old runway used to be). The lot we are hoping to sign a lease on by the end of this month is far better suited for building than most of the other choices. We have also talked to numerous contractors in Alaska and have decided on the type of construction and who we will get to do the major work (concrete slab, erecting the steel structure). We are still hoping to have a lot of you come up next summer and help us finish out the hangar. We also trusting the Lord for the needed funds to fully complete the hangar, $250,000.

It was also a wonderful time of seeing friends, letting everyone know that we are coming back and that we have not forgotten them. It’s tough to say what time of year we enjoy best in Alaska because it is always such a beautiful place. We were there for the entire season of Fall (all two weeks of it). What a wonderful creation we live in!

Lyndy and the baby are doing great. We are seeing the Doctor every two weeks now and December 2nd is not that far off. Still no conclusive evidence that it’s a girl or a boy, which leads us to believe that our first born will be a girl. Time will tell!

What are our plans now? Well Adam has a lot of mechanic work ahead of him. The vehicles need to get ready for Alaska and the trip north. We need to find out if our truck will be able to pull a trailer large enough to load all of our earthly possessions in, including the Subaru. Which includes changing out main and rod bearings and installing a gooseneck hitch and finding a suitable trailer that is reasonably priced. Adam also hopes to be able to find the time to get his Inspection Authorization, this will allow him to do all the work on the airplane. Currently there are some things that he can not sign off and return to service (Annual inspections, Major alterations/repairs). This will save us thousands of dollars a year by not having to pay someone else just for their signature on some of Adam’s work. There are a lot of other things that need to get done before returning to Alaska next spring. Hopefully he will be able to find at least a part time job to earn a little extra money for all of the upcoming expenses.

10/13/00

The Lord is faithful! After a tie in the mayoral race in Nenana last week there will be a run-off election next month. What does that have to do with anything? This allowed the current Mayor (and hopefully he will still be the Mayor) to hold the Port Authority meeting last night and they approved our lease at the airport! They also approved our petition to build the hangar with an apartment inside! We were concerned that if the current Mayor was voted out we may have to start the negotiations all over again. Small town politics can be frustrating sometimes.

Adam had a chance to help with remodeling at Covington Christian this week. It was great to work with my hands again. On a related subject: It appears that all Adam will have to do is pass a written test and he will have his IA. (Inspection Authorization, see the last update for more details) It seems we can never stop studying for something.

An item of prayer: Attendance in the Sunday school we teach is down. It’s not a reflection on our teaching, it’s a product of the members not coming home for the weekends very often. Pray with us that we will find more folks to come to Sunday School.

Thanks for all the letters and asking about Lyndy. We are getting more excited every day and look forward to the day we can hold this precious gift from God.

10/23/00

We traveled to Moultrie, Ga. last week, home of the Maule plant and the largest farm show in the southeast. Our trip was twofold, first was to see how the factory was doing on some of the improvements and to see where we were in line. We now have only 50 plane in front of us. And the FAA has to approve drawings before flight test can begin.

The second reason was to take in the Sunbelt Expo. If it has any remote relation to a farm it’s at the Expo. We were looking for gooseneck trailers and hitches. We found both. A hitch is on its way from Alabama right now. ($100 cheaper than we could find it anywhere else) Adam will drive to Texas November 6th to pickup a 25-foot gooseneck trailer. (Hundreds of dollars cheaper than we could find it anywhere else) You ask what about fuel cost to go to Texas and back. Well a college buddy needs to get a car from Texas to North Carolina and is willing to pay for fuel. It will also be an excellent time to see how our truck will handle the trip back to Alaska. Lyndy will sit out the trip to Texas, too close to the due date for such travels.

The next week will be busy. Adam has some work to do to the truck before the trip to Texas and we have a White Page’s Update to get in the mail to all of you. If you are not on our mailing list or if you’re not sure you’re on it please send us an e-mail so we can make sure we keep you informed of the latest news.

11/04/00

Where does the time go? It seems like yesterday that we were still on the road. The past two weeks have been very busy, hardly any time to stop and think. Doctor visits are still going good and it seems that Dec. 2nd is not that far off. We have our “Prepared Childbirth” (if there ever is such a thing) class on Thursday nights and we are enjoying getting ready.

Last Wednesday night we had an opportunity to talk to about 50 1st through 5th graders about missions and Alaska, wow is it fun to share with folks what God is doing. Adam had a chance to help a friend tear down a greenhouse week before last. This week he worked on getting the truck ready to make the trip to Texas. A lot of minor things and a few major items needed to be done. One of the majors was to put in a gooseneck hitch, it went a little slow but turned out good. As a result of all the work to the truck a couple of things were found that needed to be fixed that we were unaware of. Better to happen here rather than stranded on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere.

Adam also had the chance to renew his CPR certification last Thursday. He also has a rare privilege to go to the Georgia Fire Academy Nov. 13th through the 18th and receive training to become a First Responder. The First Responder course goes way beyond basic First-Aid and will give Adam the knowledge to help with any medical situations that may come up. This will be invaluable training for being in very remote places in Alaska. He hopes to be able to ride along with the volunteer fire dept. and the county ambulance service while we are in Georgia when ever possible to get more experience.

Hopefully your copy of the postcard update has arrived. If not please let us know so we can get you one. Thank you for wanting to know what’s going on and praying for us. We will keep you posted!

11/22/00

Sorry that it has taken so long to update the page. A lot has been going on the past few weeks. Adam made it to Texas to pick up the trailer the week of the 6th through the 11th. Now we have to start figuring out how we will get everything on it! Adam also finished up his First Responder course at the Georgia Public Training Center last week. He is now a First Responder for the state of Georgia. He is studying for the National Registry (written test) so other states will recognize his training. (This will be helpful when we get back to Alaska next spring.) Last Friday Adam’s folks left for China for a ten-day mission trip. We have received word that things are going very well and we actually had a chance to talk to them on the phone a couple of days ago. Of course this week is full of the Thanksgiving holiday. Lyndy and the baby are still doing very good, although is seems they both want this thing to be over soon. We are extremely thankful that things are going so well with the pregnancy and are thankful that we have such a wonderful gift on the way.

12/04/00

Well the scheduled day has come and gone and the “bun” is still in the oven! The Doctors say that both Lyndy and the baby are doing fine and if nothing happens by the 14th that they will do something about it. Meaning they are likely to induce labor by next Thursday. Lyndy has been fighting a cold the past week and it is adding to the difficulty she already has in not being able to sleep at night. Lyndy has been a real trooper and is handling everything very well, however she says that this can not be over too soon!

Many have asked if we have picked out names yet. We have, and if in fact the baby is a girl we will call her Sabrina Claire. And if all the predictions are wrong we will name the baby Jared Phillip. We hope to get an update and a picture posted here on the site as soon as possible after the delivery. So keep checking from time to time because things could happen any day now!

Adam’s Mom and Dad made it back from China and had a wonderful time. Thank you for all your prayers.

12/08/00

IT’S A GIRL!!!!!

SABRINA CLAIRE WAS BORN 7:44AM EST 12-07-00

SHE WEIGHED IN AT 8lbs 2oz AND IS 20.5 inches LONG!

EVERYONE IS DOING WELL, VERY TIRED BUT WELL! LABOR LASTED 22 LONG HOURS AND WE ARE GLAD TO HAVE HER IN OUR ARMS FINALLY.

SHE HAS HER MOMS HAIR AND HANDS AND HER DADS LONG FEET AND THE TRADITIONAL WHITE PUG NOSE! MORE PICTURES TO COME!

12/10/00

We made it home Saturday and everyone is doing well. This picture was taken Sunday afternoon. It’s amazing how much she has changed in her 3 1/2 days. I hope to be able to have things set up for an additional web site just for pictures of Sabrina some time soon. So keep looking!

12/18/00

We have settled into a routine and are enjoying being parents. Sabrina is doing well and is a great baby! Of course we are not biased in any way. Yesterday was her first day in church and she was excellent! She slept most of the service and stole the show afterward. We went out to eat after church and some lady couldn’t believe she was a real baby, “she is just too cute to be real”. Like Adam would be carrying around a doll in his arms.

Good news! We have a new web site! A wonderful Christmas present from a supporter! It’s up and running now and we hope to have everything up to date there very soon. When we get everything set up we will no longer keep this site updated. This site will still be here but only to link to our new site.